As part of University of the Pacific’s Beyond Our Gates campaign, nonprofit organizations in San Joaquin County are invited to apply for mini-grants to expand or pilot promising early literacy programs.

The mini-grants initiative, made possible with support from The James Irvine Foundation, was designed to fuel innovation and engagement toward improving early literacy in and around Stockton. Organizations can apply for one-time mini-grants of $5,000 or $10,000 to fund projects that address overall early literacy, school readiness, chronic absence or summer learning.

Applications must be submitted online by 5 p.m. Friday, July 7. Applications will be scored by a committee of community volunteers and recipients will be announced in September.

Nine early literacy mini-grants were awarded in 2016, the first cycle of Beyond Our Gates funding. Funded projects included a family engagement program that offered free preschool programming to children and their caregivers, book distribution programs that send high-quality children’s books to low-income homes, and a summer program in which children will work alongside older siblings or parents to create their own books.

Project outcomes are being compiled into a report of promising strategies for building early reading skills.

About University of the PacificFounded in 1851 as the first chartered institution of higher education in California, University of the Pacific prepares students for professional and personal success through rigorous academics, small classes, and a supportive and engaging culture. Widely recognized as one of the most beautiful private university campuses in the West, the Stockton Campus offers more than 80 areas of study in nine schools and colleges, including 25 graduate programs and 10 accelerated programs. The university’s distinctive Northern California footprint also includes its San Francisco Campus, home to the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry and new graduate programs in health, food and technology fields, and Sacramento Campus, home to the Pacific McGeorge School of Law and new graduate programs in health, education, business, public policy and data science. For more information, visit www.pacific.edu.